Dark Dreams and Pillow Talk
by Skippy Jones
Summary: Another sleepless night leads Terra and Aqua to have a much needed heart to heart.


**Photo credit goes to ZOE-Productions on Deviantart**

—DARK DREAMS AND PILLOW TALK—

Late at night in the newly restored Land of Departure.

The stars and moonlight shone down on the lavish castle, illuminating the inside of Aqua's room. The light consoled her as she lied awake in her bed, feeling like she couldn't keep her eyes shut. Having been in the realm of darkness for so long, Aqua had yet to readjust to a normal sleep schedule.

The memories still hung heavy in her mind: wandering the lonely dark pathways, perpetually tired, but constantly on guard. She would spend hours (probably) trying to find a safe place to rest, but no matter where she settled down, she was almost always awoken by scurrying shadows clawing at her. The entire time, Aqua had to fight off sleep just as much as the heartless.

On the rare occasions she was able to fall asleep in the dark realm, it was all too common for Aqua to have dreams. Dream of being rescued, of being safe at home with her friends, of being right where she was now; and so many times she would abruptly wake up to find it wasn't so. It seemed that the dark realm's tendency to torment its inhabitants with false visions could reach her even in slumber. Aqua was dreadfully afraid it would happen again, and that fear was keeping her awake.

Aqua did her best to get her mind off those thoughts, trying to focus on the fact that her best friends, Terra and Ventus, were sound asleep in their own rooms, not too far from her own. If she really wanted to, she could walk over and say hello; and after all this time apart, she _really_ wanted to.

Then again, it was past midnight, and Aqua felt it rude to interrupt their sleep just because she was having trouble with her own. The best thing to do would be to stick it out and try to get some rest.

She laid there with her eyes closed for a couple minutes, tossing and turning a few times, before finally giving up. Again, she thought about her friends, and wondered if either of them were still awake like herself.

No doubt, Ven was out like a light. The boy had been asleep for over 10 years, yet he had no trouble knocking out when the time came. Aqua knew this was because the boy would spend all day exerting himself to the point of exhaustion. Whether he was training extensively with her and Terra, or off on his own to visit his friends in other worlds (something he was never able to do in the old days), the boy was always occupied. But right now, he was busy sleeping, and Aqua thought it best to leave him be.

That just left Terra, the eldest of the trio, and her closest companion. Aqua valued her friendship with Ven just as much, and the three of them were inseparable, but the bond she shared with Terra was special to her. The two of them went way back. Having both been chosen to train under Master Eraqus at a very young age, they became fast friends. Terra quickly became a foundation in her life, a rock that she could always turn to and rely on, sometimes even more so than their Master. After everything that had happened between them—the Mark of Mastery exam, Xehanort's manipulation, and the pull of destiny tearing them apart—the bond they shared refused to be severed. Terra's first words to her when he regained his body were still fresh in Aqua's mind: "_You never stopped lighting my way back._" It made her smile to know that he found strength in her as much as she did in him.

With that in mind, Aqua became less concerned with possibly waking him up, as the urge to go see him grew stronger. She remembered a time when they were younger, and more concerned with being kids than training, that they would spend nearly every night together. One of them would sneak into the other's room, where the young apprentices would play games and hang out, long after the Master sent them to bed. Much of their bonding came from those nights, but as the two apprentices got older, things started to change between them, and the sleepovers eventually stopped all together.

Realizing how much she missed those days, Aqua finally resolved to go see if Terra was awake. Throwing off the covers, all she had on was a loose tee and underwear, so she put on a pair sweatpants to at least look somewhat presentable, and headed for the door.

Aqua was startled when she opened the door to find Terra already standing there, about to knock on air. They both stared for a moment, still processing what just happened, before Terra broke the silence by blurting out, "A-Aqua, you're awake!" He wore a pair of brown pajamas, a sleeved shirt and striped pants, nightwear that Aqua was familiar with. She remembered a time when that outfit was loose on him, but now he filled it out quite nicely. Master Eraqus was right that Terra would grow into it, she thought.

"Yes, I was just… about to get some water. I haven't been sleeping too well though," Aqua admitted.

"Yeah, me neither actually," Terra scratched the back of his head, his eyes trailing off to the side. Shaking it off, he looked at her expectantly, "Can we talk?"

Aqua flashed a small smile. "Of course. Come in," she obliged, stepping aside to let Terra into the doorway. Terra smiled back as he entered the bedroom, crossing over to and sitting down on the bed. As she closed the door and moved to join him, Aqua took note of how rigidly Terra sat. Legs apart, hands gripping his knees, he seemed to have zoned out by the time she took a seat to his left.

There was a brief silence as Aqua waited for him to speak up, but his gaze remained fixed straight ahead, so she initiated. "Terra? Is everything okay?" she asked with quiet concern.

Terra finally spoke up in a low rumble, "I wanted to apologize, Aqua. It's my fault you ended up in the Realm of Darkness."

"What do you mean?" Aqua asked, cocking her head slightly.

"I've been having nightmares," Terra answered. His shoulders sagged as he stared into his open palms, "This body must still have some of Xehanort's memories etched in it, because whenever I go to sleep, I see through his eyes—through _my_ eyes—all the terrible things he's done to people."

"Terra…" Aqua leaned in slightly, looking at him sympathetically.

"But the one that haunts me the most," Terra continued, "I'm in Radiant Garden, looking up at the sky, and then you come running up to me. You say my name, and I can feel myself trying to respond, but nothing comes out." His eyes refuse to stray from gazing down at his open palms, "Instead, my hand reaches out, grabs you, and lifts you up by the neck. You're struggling, begging me to fight it, but… I can't stop it," he laments, clenching his fists.

Aqua herself was starting to relive the event Terra was recounting, having experienced it firsthand, gently massaging her throat. The memory was just as vivid for her.

Terra's fists collapsed back onto his knees, "After that, everything goes black. I can't see anything. All I feel is a sharp pain in my chest, and a falling sensation, but I can still hear you calling to me. Suddenly, I feel like I'm flying straight up. The last thing I remember is you saying, 'I'm with you,' before I'm engulfed by a bright light, and that's when I wake up."

Terra then turned to look at Aqua, who broke from her own wistful gaze to meet his. "Aqua, you shouldn't have saved me. I let Xehanort manipulate me, I gave into the darkness, _I_ should've been the one to suffer for it. You didn't deserve that, and I'm so sorry for what you endured because of my mistakes," Terra turned away again, bowing his head in shame.

"Terra…" Aqua was taken aback by his sudden apology. Not once did she even consider blaming Terra for the time she had spent in the Realm of Darkness. Terra, however, must have felt tremendous guilt for everything _he_ had done. Gently, she shifted closer to him on the bed, her hand purposely grazing his.

"You have nothing to apologize for. Yes, you made a mistake, but you suffered from it just as much as anyone else. It was my choice to try and save you, and even though I failed, I would do it again in a heartbeat. I—" Aqua stopped, catching herself about to speak of feelings she had yet to sort out for herself. Terra sat up and looked at her curiously, causing Aqua to look down shyly as she finished the thought, "…I care about you, Terra."

Surprised to see her composure falter, Terra wondered how he might comfort her, when he noticed their hands almost touching. Bravely, he closed the gap between them, and waited for her to look at him again before replying, "I feel the same way, Aqua."

Their eyes met, and neither spoke as the two shared a quiet moment. Aqua slipped her fingers in the spaces between Terra's and smiled at him softly, causing his heart to skip a beat. It was their first time alone together since coming home.

Aqua's eyes drifted off shortly, and she finally broke the silence, "Do you remember when we met in the Realm of Darkness?"

"Yeah, and I put you and Ven in danger again…" Terra replied despondently.

"Stop that!" Aqua scolded, squeezing his hand. "Terra, I was in danger _every_ _second_ I was there, all you did was give me a moment's peace." Her voice dropped as she recounted her experience, "The realm of darkness plays tricks on you. It torments you with your deepest desires, and preys on your darkest fears. I spent countless hours wandering the ruins of fallen worlds, chasing visons of you and Ven, just to be led deeper into despair… even my own reflection began to haunt me."

Hearing that made Terra feed even worse, still hung up on blaming himself for Aqua's fate.

"All I could do was keep following the illusions, hoping they might turn out to be real for once. And that's exactly what happened. Somehow, in the vast abyss, I found you." Aqua squeezed Terra's hand again to get him to look at her again; she had to say this to his face. "Terra, hearing your voice made me the happiest I'd been in so long. And even when Xehanort took control, you still came through for us in the end," she assured, putting her other hand on his cheek.

Terra smiled, beginning to relax again. "I should hope so; I spent at least ten years just waiting, hoping I would get the chance to save you and Ven. Of course, you can't do much when half of you is a hollow suit of armor. All those years, my sense of self was split in half: my anger and hate poured into the armor, and the rest of me trapped in Xehanort's heart—and then he split himself up even more! Honestly, it's a wonder I was able to hold it together at all," he joked, attempting to make light of the traumatic affair.

Aqua laughed, "Believe me, we were _all_ surprised when your armor showed up to fight Xehanort." She put a hand on her chin in contemplation, then shared her thoughts with Terra, "Hey, wouldn't that make your armor the first nobody?"

Terra cocked an eyebrow, "Nobody? What is that?"

"You mean you don't know? One of Xehanort's forms _was_ a nobody, I figured you'd have picked up on that in some way," she remarked with a hint of teasing.

"L-Like I said, there was a lot going on in there! It was hard to keep track…" Terra responded defensively, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Aqua laughed, "Relax, I'm only kidding. Well, a nobody is when a person with a strong heart becomes a heartless. They're body is left behind and starts to act on its own accord, creating a nobody."

"Okay, I think I get it…" Terra nodded in semi-understanding, "…what's a heartless again?"

Aqua could only shake her head in amusement at Terra's cluelessness, but then she got an idea, "Maybe this will help…" she let go of Terra's hand and climbed onto the bed behind him, grabbing her Gummiphone off her nightstand and sitting back against the headboard. "Over here," Aqua patted the space next to her on the bed. Terra took the invitation and sat to her left, as Aqua pulled up a picture of a Shadow on the phone. "_This_ is a heartless," she explained as she handed the phone to Terra, "They're born from the darkness in people's hearts, and they actively seek out other hearts to add to their numbers. Having your heart taken by them means becoming a heartless yourself; and if your heart is strong enough, a nobody is created, too."

A gleam of realization could be seen in Terra's eyes in the light of the phone. "Oh, that actually makes sense! I think you're right then, maybe my armor _was_ the first nobody. I guess it goes to show how strong my heart is," he declared, crossing his arms proudly.

"As if there was ever any doubt," Aqua said sarcastically, and laughed. He glanced at her with a playful scowl, and fluttered her eyelashes innocently. This was much more like the Terra she knew, and she was happy to see him acting more like his old self again.

Another silence fell as Aqua stopped to savor the nostalgia of the moment, hugging her knees as she curled up on the bed. After about a minute, she finally noticed what Terra was up to. His eyes were glued to the Gummiphone as he poked and prodded it like a curious child. Aqua raised her brow in amusement and asking him coyly, "You having fun over there?"

Terra, who was browsing the adversaries page, abruptly glanced up from the screen to respond, "Huh, what—" Seeing Aqua's knowing smirk, he chuckled, "Oh, guess I got a little distracted. What else can this thing do?" he asked, handing the phone back to her.

"Here, I'll show you," Aqua said eagerly, unfolding her legs and sliding up close to Terra. "Let's see…" she held the phone out in front of them, and listed the different apps as she scrolled through them. "It's got these little video games, a record of everything that's happened over, a recipe book from that bistro in… Twilight Town? Oh! And a camera!" she exclaimed, rediscovering the feature since when she first received the phone. It was forgotten due to the approaching final battle, which left no room to focus on entertainment at the time.

Aqua only had two pictures on the phone, which she took that same day, when she and Ven were sitting on the steps outside Master Yen Sid's tower. One was of Ven, waving at the camera with a big goofy smile, and the other was of the bright stars overhead. Aqua remembered that she had initially intended to take a picture of everything she missed during her time in the Realm of Darkness, and this was as good a time as any to capture one more. Without warning, Aqua aimed the phone at Terra and shouted, "Smile!" before quickly snapping a photo of him.

Terra blinked, realizing he was caught off guard. "Wait, I wasn't ready!" he whined, as Aqua showed him the photo of himself with a vacant, slightly startled expression.

"Don't worry, we can take a better one," she laughed, aiming the camera at him again, "Ready?"

Terra held up one finger to ask for a second, and proceeded to over-exaggeratingly tousle his hair in preparation for the photo, making Aqua giggle. He finally settled on a more natural approach, leaning back against the bedframe. "Ready," he confirmed, half-smiling and not fully facing the camera.

Aqua was about to take the photo, but hesitated when she got a better idea. "Actually, let's take one together," she suggested. Terra shrugged as Aqua switched the camera to selfie mode, then moved to lean up against Terra. She smiled at him through the camera, and asked, "Ready? This time for real!" Thrown off by the sudden contact, Terra could only nod in response, and smile back into the camera as she snapped the photo. The photo lingered on the screen long enough for them to get a good look at it.

Aqua gushed, "Oh, it's cute! Guess you're pretty photogenic after all," she remarked, teasingly poking his cheek.

Terra rolled his eyes with a smirk, "Yeah, well, some of us actually have to _try_ to look good. Hey, what's this do?" he inquired, as Aqua discreetly blushed at the compliment.

He pressed the button in the bottom left corner of the screen, and suddenly his face on the screen contorted into a bizarre Mickey-Terra hybrid. Aqua took one look at the abomination and began laughing hysterically. Terra found her laughter contagious, and didn't last very long before he lost it over the hilarious image. The two spent the next half an hour trying out the other face filters, laughing themselves silly over the goofy pictures they took.

Once they had settled down and caught their breath, the late hour finally began to catch up with them as fatigue set in. Aqua let out a big yawn and lied down fully next to Terra, who was already flat on his back from laughing too hard.

Aqua stared up at the dark ceiling amidst the comfortable silence; by this point, the moon had made its way across the sky and away from her window, no longer filling the room with its soft light. The moonlight once served as her only solace from the pitch-black reminder of her lost days, but now she wasn't even thinking about them. Here, even in the suffocating darkness, she felt safe. With him.

Once again, Terra's hand gripped hers firmly, reassuring both of them that the moment was real. Finally, they were together again.

"Hey, you know what this reminds me of?" Terra asked quietly.

"What's that?" she answered softly.

"Back when we were kids, and we would sneak into each other's rooms at night to hang out past curfew." Terra lifted his head a bit to look at her, "Do you remember that?"

Aqua's eyes lit up, "Of course! I was actually just thinking about it; before you came to my room earlier," she explained.

"Oh yeah…?" Terra stopped for a second to think, then grinned in realization, "So… were you _really_ going to get a glass of water?"

Aqua flinched nervously, "I... I don't know what you're talking about." She turned over to her right side, facing away from Terra with a huff.

"Aqua, it's not a big deal," Terra smugly remarked, obviously enjoying the reaction, "We both wanted to see each other, I just made the first move is all. No need to get defensive," he said as he laid back down with hands behind his head in triumph.

Meanwhile, Aqua had already concocted the perfect rebuttal to make him squirm, and was waiting for an opening to attack. Without even moving from her position, Aqua sighed dramatically, "I guess you're right. No point trying to fool a sharp guy like you, right?"

Terra's brow raised as he looked up at the ceiling. "Right…" he agreed cautiously; she was obviously up to something.

The room fell silent again, and Terra's guard fell as his eyelids began to. Aqua's bed was as comfortable as ever, and he was just about ready to doze off when a curveball came his way.

"Terra, do you remember our first kiss?"

His eyelids shot open, and he was instantly leaning back up on his elbows. "O-Our what!?" he exclaimed in bewilderment.

Aqua, who was curled up comfortable to his right, coyly peeked over her shoulder. "You mean you don't remember!? And I thought it meant so much to you. Guess I was wrong…" she mused sadly, turning back to lie her head down again.

Terra sputtered, "O-Of course it did! I just… look, it's been a while, okay? Think you could jog my memory for me? Please?" he pleaded, leaning over her in desperation.

"Hmmm," Aqua pretended to think about it for a moment, then flipped onto her back again to elaborate. "Well, I _guess_ I can fill you in… I think I was twelve and you were about to turn fourteen at the time," she touched her chin, having trouble recalling the details herself, "Anyway, we were hanging out in the castle library. I was reading one of those cheesy romance novels, and you were probably _pretending_ to read," she teased, playfully jabbing his side with her finger.

"Hey! To be fair, a lot of those books had really informative pictures!" Terra remarked defensively.

Aqua giggled, "Stop, let me finish! So, I'm getting into this really sappy story, and then I get to the part where the two main characters finally kiss, and it got me thinking about how I had never had my first kiss. Then I see you sitting across from me, and—"

Suddenly, Terra interrupted, "Wait, I think I _do_ remember this?"

"Really? What happens next then?" Aqua cocked an eyebrow, thinking she had called his bluff.

"Well… you, uh, walked over to me, and asked me if I wanted to try something… and me, in my unwitting youth, said 'sure'," Terra paused for a moment, as if he was reliving the memory at that moment, and spoke again softly, "And then you kissed me."

Aqua stayed silent, running the memory back in her own head. It took a lot of nerve for her young self to go through with that all those years ago, and the surge of emotions that hit her when she actually did were bubbling back up from deep in her heart.

"Do I have that right…?" Terra asked curiously, taking her silence as a cue that he'd remembered it wrong.

It took Aqua a second to pull it together, "Y-Yup! That's how I remember it too." A huge smile appeared on her face as she recounted more details, "Oh, and immediately afterwards you acted all grossed out by it, and then came up to me that night asking to do it again," she laughed heartily, rolling onto her left this time, closer to Terra.

Terra smiled sheepishly, slightly embarrassed. A little embarrassment, however, didn't bother him at all. He was so used to looking back on his past actions with regret, he actually welcomed a feeling so innocent. All he could feel as the Lingering Will were hate and rage, the very emotions that drove him to that sorry state. Now recompleted, he was once again free to experience all the wide spectrum of feelings a heart provided, good or bad; all that mattered was that he was feeling _something_.

And it was because of Aqua that Terra had gone through so many feelings in such a short span. Something about her always sparked something in him, perhaps because they had grown up together. All he knew was that the connection they shared was like no other. A bond so strong that it transcended heart and mind, light and darkness, to bring them back to each other; and he never wanted to lose her again.

"Do you remember what happened next?" Aqua asked expectantly, dragging Terra out of his headspace.

"You mean besides the fact that I _didn't_ get another kiss?" he replied with mock bitterness. "Actually, I remember we made a deal. You said we would kiss again on the day we both became Keyblade Masters," Terra admitted, with some actual bitterness this time.

"That's right. Too bad we forgot about that deal when it finally happened, huh?" she remarked softly

Terra sighed, slumping back against the pillow, "Not like it matters, I didn't become a Master anyway. But if I had known what I was missing out on, I probably would've felt even worse," he chuckled lightly.

Aqua looked at him sadly, knowing how much becoming a Keyblade Master meant to him. Fortunately, she knew just how to cheer him up.

"Terra," she whispered to lure him in.

"Yeah?" Terra turned, only to be ambushed by Aqua pressing her lips against his.

She held the kiss for a few seconds before breaking away to look him in the eyes, "You were always a master to me."

Speechless and dumbfounded, Terra could only utter a tiny gasp as he stared at Aqua. Then, suddenly, he rolled onto his side and pulled her into his chest, hugging her tightly. Aqua was now the one caught off guard, and quickly melted into the embrace, wrapping her own arms around his firm torso.

The room fell silent one last time. There was nothing more that needed to be said. Aqua felt more at home, more secure, than she had in years, lying there and listening to Terra's heartbeat. Terra was intoxicated by the sweet scent of her blue hair, and soothed by the sensation of her rhythmic breathing against him. Neither of them could keep their eyes open anymore, and they finally sell asleep.

/

It was almost noon, and Ventus was still the only one awake in the castle.

The blonde boy strolled down the corridor towards Aqua's room. "I could understand Terra, but Aqua _never_ sleeps in this late," he wondered aloud as he went to check on his friend.

Arriving at her bedroom door, Ven knocked a few times, then listened for any movement inside. When he heard nothing, he called inside, "Aqua?" before slowly twisting the knob and cracking the door open, just enough to peek in

There she was, lying on her side facing away from him… wait, who is _that_? Ven opened the door more to slip in sideways, and tiptoed over to the corner of the bed to see that Terra was lying there with her; in fact, they were cuddling with each other!

Ven gushed at the sight, but quickly silenced himself so he wouldn't wake them up. With a soft smile, he started to sneak back out of the room, but his smile slowly warped into a mischievous grin. Stepping back into position, Ven pulled out his Gummiphone (which he had been using much more frequently than his friends), snapped a picture of them, then left.

Less than an hour later, Terra and Aqua awoke to the photo of them sleeping together posted on Gummigram, with both their names tagged, and the caption, "Guess who had a sleepover!"

The two were embarrassed (and a little peeved at Ven) at first, but that didn't stop them from sleeping together the next night, and the night after that, and every night from then on.

—THE END—


End file.
